Peter Murphy
What will students gain if they come on one of your courses?
They will gain a unique insight into the process of egg tempera painting and gilding used to create traditional icons.
Are there any particular techniques/processes you use in your teaching?I tend to use clear verbal instructions and practical demonstrations for students to follow at each different stage of the process.
What inspires your own work?Traditional Byzantine iconography, Pre- Renaissance Italian panel painting, particularly of the Sienese School, English Romanesque manuscript illumination.
Where can students see examples of your work?Hereford Carthedral, Tewkesbury Abbey, The Church of St Mary Redcliffe Bristol, Bede’s World Museum Jarrow,The Barber Institute of Fine Arts.
Where did you gain your training?I received my icon painting training as a student of Guillem Ramos Poqui, author of ‘The Technique of Icon Painting’ in London in the 1980s before that I had been a student at The University of East London and Jacob Kramer College of Art in Leeds.
What teaching experience have you had?I taught ‘A’ level art and Religious Studies at MPW Independent Sixth Form College for eleven years until 2002. I was Painting Tutor for Birmingham for the Open College of the Arts. I have taught numerous practical icon painting workshops in the UK, Greece and Italy in the last seven year.
Is your work in any public or private collections?The Collection of the Barber Institute of Fine Arts at the University of Birmingham.
Numerous private collections including that of David Roberts
My work is also in the Churches and Museums mentioned above.
I have had a couple of articles published in ‘Artists and Illustrators’ magazine.
Do you belong to any professional groups/societies?I am a member of The British Association of Iconographers.